Some embodiments described herein relate generally to methods and apparatus to cleave an optical element at a defined distance from a splice within a desired precision and/or accuracy.
Many known optical assemblies include an optical fiber joined or connected to other optical elements. The optical fiber can be any type of optical fiber including, but not limited to, for example, a single mode optical fiber, a multimode optical fiber, a “coreless” optical fiber, which has a substantially homogenous refractive index, a tapered optical fiber, or an optical fiber with a mode expansion or contraction region. The optical elements can be a variety of different types, such as, for example, any of the optical fibers listed above, a GRIN (Gradient Index) lens, a conventional lens, or a rod of glass or other material with or without an internal waveguide structure. If the optical element is an optical fiber it may have the same or different properties than the optical fiber to which it is joined. Other types of optical elements can be joined to the optical fiber.
One known example method of joining or connecting an optical fiber and an optical element includes a fusion splice. In this method, the abutting end faces of the optical fiber and the optical element to be joined are heated so that their respective end face surfaces soften, and fuse together, forming a splice. The splice can be mechanically robust, which can provide for permanent attachment, require no attachment hardware, and provide a low loss optical coupling between the optical fiber and optical element.
Some known techniques for cleaving and/or splicing an optical fiber can include certain limitations. For example, some known systems may require an operator to identify the location of a fiber splice or other reference point, and manually position a cleave blade. Such a manual process can be slow, inaccurate, and irreproducible. Some known systems do not combine a cleaver and splicer into the same apparatus. Such systems may require manual transfer of the optical element between the cleaver and the splicer using, for example, clips or inserts, which can result in a loss of the reference alignment. Such systems may not provide accurate positioning between features, such as, for example, between cleaves and splices, along the longitudinal axis of the optical element.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus capable of fabricating faster, more accurate, and/or more reproducible optical assemblies having a cleave positioned at a defined distance from a splice or some other feature in the optical assembly.